Jeffrey Tambor
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Biography
Often seen playing a wide variety of officious and obsequious types, actor Jeffrey Tambor had his career breakthrough as narcissistic sidekick Hank Kingsley on the acclaimed cable sitcom "The Larry Sanders Show" (HBO, 1992-98). Prior to his Emmy-nominated success on that show, Tambor had gone back and forth between comedy and drama, playing the recurring role of a judge on "Hill Street Blues" (NBC, 1981-87) while turning in comic performances in "Mr. Mom" (1983) and "City Slickers" (1991). Once he landed the role of Hank, Tambor quickly emerged as a fan favorite, thanks to his many sparring matches with the fictional late night talk show host (Garry Shandling) and the show's producer (Rip Torn). After the program left the air in 1998, Tambor moved on to supporting roles in major films like "There's Something About Mary" (1998), "Girl Interrupted" (1999) and "Pollock" (2000), before returning to the small screen as the incarcerated George Bluth, Sr. on the critical darling "Arrested Development" (Fox, 2003-06). Tambor also played George's hapless twin brother, Oscar, to hilarious perfection. Meanwhile, he kept busy working in features ranging from raucous comedy "The Hangover" (2009) to tense thriller "The Accountant" (2016), while also providing his distinctive baritone voice to a variety of animated works, proving that Tambor remained one of the most highly-sought after character performers in the business. Tambor made the jump to being a lead actor with the debut of the sitcom "Transparent" (Amazon 2014- ), in which he starred as Maura Pfefferman, a late-life transgender woman dealing with her children's reactions to her transformation.
Born on July 8, 1944 in San Francisco, CA, Tambor was raised in a blue collar home by his father, Michael, a flooring contractor, and his mother, Eileen, a homemaker. He had ambitions to act at an early age and first began learning his craft when he was 11 years old. Tambor eventually studied acting at San Francisco State University before earning his master's in language and theater from Wayne State University in Detroit, MI. He went on to teach theater at Wayne State and spent the next 15 years performing with various repertory companies, including the Seattle, Milwaukee and South Coast Repertory Theatres; the Old Globe in San Diego; the Actors Theatre in Louisville; and Harvard's Loeb Drama Center. After making his Broadway debut in the Larry Gelbart comedy "Sly Fox" (1976) opposite George C. Scott, Tambor appeared in his first feature film for the Al Pacino courtroom vehicle, "...And Justice for All" (1979), playing an attorney in the midst of a total mental collapse. Turning to television, he had a recurring role on "Three's Company" (ABC, 1977-1984) that led to his first regular series gig on its short-lived spin-off, "The Ropers" (ABC, 1979-1980), playing a snobby realtor who lives next door to the titular couple (Norman Fell and Audra Lindley).
Tambor next made his miniseries debut in the fictional "Alcatraz: The Whole Shocking Story" (NBC, 1980), and the following year started a recurring role as Judge Alan Wachtel on "Hill Street Blues" (NBC, 1981-87), which lasted throughout the decade. He had a memorable performance as the underhanded ex-boss of a fired automobile engineer (Michael Keaton) forced to take care of the kids once mom (Teri Garr) goes back to work in the hit comedy "Mr. Mom" (1983). After a starring role as the frantic head of a newsroom on the short-lived British series "Max Headroom" (Cinemax/ABC, 1987-88), Tambor lent his baritone voice to the syndicated animated series "The New Adventures of Jonny Quest" (1986-87). As a guest star, he frequented such popular shows like "Murder, She Wrote" (CBS, 1984-1996), "L.A. Law" (NBC, 1986-1994), "Doogie Howser, M.D." (ABC, 1989-1993) and "Empty Nest" (NBC, 1988-1995). Back on the feature side, Tambor had significant supporting roles opposite Billy Crystal in "City Slickers" (1991) and Mel Brooks in "Life Stinks" (1991), both of which put his unique comic gifts on display that later came to full bloom in the early-to-mid 1990s.
Tambor finally earned a name for himself as the vain, put-upon and attention-starved sidekick of the titular host (Garry Shandling) of "The Larry Sanders Show" (HBO, 1992-98). Tambor's Hank Kingsley was disliked by many of his coworkers because of his egoism and lack of common sense, and often irritated the show's cantankerous producer (Rip Torn) for unabashedly using his name to endorse questionable products, including the infamous Hankerciser 200 and his rotating restaurant. A genial everyman on stage, but condescending and narcissistic behind the scenes, particularly with underlings, Hank annoyed everyone around him, especially with his famous catchphrase, "Hey, now." For eight seasons, Tambor remained one of the show's favorite performers, while earning four Emmy nominations throughout its heralded run. Meanwhile, he appeared in a number of movies during the show's run, including the black comedy "At Home with the Webbers" (1993), the comedic mystery "Radioland Murders" (1994), and the rather lightweight Walt Disney kiddie comedy "Heavyweights" (1995). On the small screen, he turned away from comedy to play the head of an Israeli Mossad unit tracking a heinous Nazi war criminal (Robert Duvall) in "The Man Who Captured Eichmann" (TNT, 1996).
After "Larry Sanders" went off the air in 1998, Tambor saw his big-screen fortunes pick up with a variety of supporting roles in a wide variety of films that included "Meet Joe Black" (1998), "There's Something About Mary" (1998), "Muppets From Space" (1999), "Teaching Mrs. Tingle" (1999), "Girl Interrupted" (1999) and "Pollock" (2000). Following an especially wacky turn as Mayor Augustus Maywho in the live action version of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (2000), he delivered a fine performance in a rare leading role when he played a sexually dysfunctional Baby Boomer who swears off love, only to fall for a lonely empty nest mom (Jill Clayburgh) in the romantic comedy "Never Again" (2001). Tambor also appeared in several, small but memorable roles and cameos in films, including the bank heist comedy "Scorched" (2002), comic Jamie Kennedy's hip-hop white-boy romp "Malibu's Most Wanted" (2003), and the underwhelming Ashton Kutcher comedy "My Boss' Daughter" (2003). Following a turn as Diane Lane's divorce lawyer in "Under the Tuscan Sun" (2003), he played Scott Mechlowicz's father in the raunchy teen comedy "Eurotrip" (2004).Tambor was cast as the demanding, but comedy-challenged head of the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense in the comic book-derived action film "Hellboy" (2004), figuratively locking horns with the red-skinned title character (Ron Perlman).
Tambor's post-"Larry Sanders" career kept him very busy on the small screen as well. After starring in the short-lived sitcom "Everything's Relative" (NBC, 1999), he was cast in the 1980s nostalgia comedy "That Was Then" (ABC, 2002), co-starring James Bulliard, Tyler Labine and Bess Armstrong. Unfortunately, the show only lasted two episodes. But that turned out to be a blessing when Tambor was almost immediately cast in his second most iconic role, playing George Bluth, Sr., the imprisoned millionaire patriarch of the dysfunctuional Orange County family at the center of the critically hailed hit, "Arrested Development" (Fox, 2003-06). Initially planning to appear only in the pilot, Tambor's performance was so well-received by the producers that he was immediately added to the cast on a full-time basis, delivering one of his finest comedic characters. He also played George's twin brother, Oscar, a long-haired, pot-smoking slacker who later becomes mistaken for his brother when the other escapes from prison. The scene-stealing Tambor received Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in 2004 and 2005 for his performance as George before the show was controversially cancelled in 2006. Meanwhile, he was a regular on the game show revival of "Hollywood Squares" and served as the show's announcer during the 2002-03 season.
After lending his mellifluous bass as the voice of King Neptune in "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie" (2004), Tambor landed a regular role opposite John Lithgow on the short-lived sitcom "Twenty Good Years" (NBC, 2006). He went on to guest starring roles on "Law & Order" (NBC, 1990-2010) and "The New Adventures of Old Christine" (CBS, 2005-2010) before returning to the feature world to reprise his role in "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" (2008). Tambor next was the father of the bride (Sasha Barrese) and a socially-awkward soon-to-be brother-in-law (Zach Galifianakis) in "The Hangover" (2009), a raucous hit comedy about three groomsmen (Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Galifianakis) who try to hunt down the lost groom (Justin Bartha) following a wild night in Las Vegas. Tambor reprised the role for the sequel "The Hangover: Part II" (2011). Back to voice work, Tambor was Carl Murphy in "Monsters vs. Aliens" (2009), Lord Jamie in "Tangled" (2010), and Mr. Calvin Curdles in the direct-to-DVD "Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo" (2010).
The indefatigable Tambor remained a ubiquitous presence in film and on television, in both large- and small-budget productions covering nearly every genre imaginable. He lent his talent to the acclaimed indie dramedy "Win Win" (2011) alongside Paul Giamatti and popped up beside Jim Carrey for a turn in the family comedy "Mr. Popper's Penguins" (2011). On television, Tambor earned high marks in his supporting role as a frustrated actor and supportive father in the all-too-quickly canceled sitcom "Bent" (NBC, 2012). The following year he picked up a supporting turn in the based-on-fact crime drama "For the Love of Money" (2012) and appeared as a Machiavellian marketing executive in the anti-capitalism sci-fi mystery "Branded" (2012), neither of which garnered much box office attention. Drawing far more press was the announcement that "Arrested Development" (Netflix, 2013- ) would return for a fourth season on Netflix. Returning with Tambor were cast members Jason Bateman, Portia de Rossi, Jessica Walter, David Cross and Michael Cera, prompting devotees of the dysfunctional Bluth dynasty to once again hold out hope for a feature film adaptation. Tambor's next major project was another critically-acclaimed streaming series, "Transparent" (Amazon 2014- ). In this comedy drama, Tambor played Maura Pfefferman, a late-life transgender woman whose squabbling family provides a fractious counterpoint to her personal journey. Tambor won his first Emmy for the role. Between seasons, Tambor continued his character work on the big screen, appearing in the quirky Jack Black comedy "The D Train" (2015), action drama "The Accountant" (2016) and animated hit "Trolls" (2016).
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Music (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Misc. Crew (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1976
Made Broadway debut in Arthur Penn's "Sly Fox"
1979
Appeared several times on ABC's "Three's Company"
1979
Made feature film debut, playing Al Pacino's mentally unstable law partner in "And Justice for All"
1979
Played first role as a series regular on spin-off "The Ropers"
1980
Appeared in first TV miniseries, "Alcatraz: The Whole Shocking Story" (NBC)
1981
Cast in the recurring role of Judge Alan Wachtel on NBC's police drama "Hill Street Blues"
1983
Played Michael Keaton's boss in the comedy "Mr. Mom"
1987
Cast in the short-lived ABC action-comedy series "Max Headroom"
1987
Lent his voice to the syndicated children's series, "The New Adventures of Jonny Quest"
1991
Co-starred in Mel Brooks' "Life Stinks"
1992
Played announcer Hank Kingsley on the HBO comedy series, "The Larry Sanders Show"
1998
Played Dr. Fish in the Eddie Murphy comedy, "Doctor Dolittle"
1998
Cast as Sully the Farrelly brothers comedy "There's Something About Mary"
1999
Cast in NBC's short-lived sitcom "Everything's Relative"
1999
Starred as Dr. Melvin Potts opposite Winona Ryder in "Girl, Interrupted"
2000
Cast as Mayor Augustus Maywho in "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas"
2003
Played dual role of twin brothers George Bluth Sr. and Oscar Bluth on the FOX sitcom, "Arrested Development"
2004
Voiced King Neptune in "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie"
2004
Cast in Guillermo del Toro's comic book adaption "Hellboy"
2006
Co-starred with John Lithgow on the short-lived NBC sitcom, "Twenty Good Years"
2008
Reprised role for "Hellboy II: The Golden Army"
2008
Played a fictionalized version of himself in several episodes of HBO's "Entourage"
2009
Appeared in the Todd Phillips comedy "The Hangover"
2010
Lent his voice to the animated feature "Tangled"
2010
Was a recurring vocal presence on "Archer"
2011
Reprised role as Sid Garner in Todd Phillips' "The Hangover Part II"
2011
Co-starred in family movie "Mr. Popper's Penguins"
2012
Co-starred in crime drama "For the Love of Money"
2012
Co-starred in futuristic thriller "Branded"
2013
Reprised role of Sid for final time in "The Hangover Part III"
2013
Had recurring role as a judge on CBS legal series "The Good Wife"
2013
Rejoined cast of rebooted "Arrested Development"
2014
Starred as transgender woman Maura Pfefferman on Amazon series "Transparent"
2015
Co-starred with Jack Black and James Marsden in buddy comedy "The D-Train"
2015
Began voicing Glossaryck on "Star vs. the Forces of Evil"
2016
Voiced a role in the animated comedy "Trolls"
2016
Appeared alongside Oscar winners Ben Affleck and J.K. Simmons in the crime drama "The Accountant"
2017
Played Georgy Malenkov in the satire "The Death of Stalin"
2017
Voiced God in the animated comedy "The Adventures of Drunky"
Family
Companions
